1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copier, and more particularly, to a copier capable of switching printing processes according to control data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a function block diagram of a copier 50 according to the prior art. The copier 50 comprises an image capturing module 52, an input register 53 electrically connected to the image capturing module 52, an image processing module 54 electrically connected to the input register 53, an error diffusion module 56 electrically connected to the image processing module 54, a render & control module 58 electrically connected to the error diffusion module 56, an output register 59 electrically connected to the render & control module 58, an image output device 60 electrically connected to the output register 59, and a processor 70 electrically connected to the image capturing module 52, the image processing module 54, the error diffusion module 56, the render & control module 58, and the image output device 60 for controlling the operations of the image capturing module 52, the image processing module 54, the error diffusion module 56, the render & control module 58, and the image output device 60.
The operation of the copier 50 is described as follows: The image capturing module 52 captures an original image, and transforms the original image into a gray-leveled image, which will be stored into the input register 53; The image processing module 54 executes a plurality of image processes, such as a luminance & chrominance adjusting process, on the gray-leveled image stored in the input register 53, and transfers the processed gray-leveled image to the error diffusion module 56; The error diffusion module 56 transforms the processed gray-leveled image from the image processing module 54 into a half-toned image, and reallocates or divides the half-toned image; The render & control module 58 transforms the reallocated half-toned image into a printable image, and transfers the printable image via the output register 59 to the image output device 60 for printing. The gray-leveled image is the largest one in an image group consisting of the gray-leveled image, the half-toned image, and the printable image, the half-toned the second, and the printable image the smallest.
Every time when printing a copy of the original image, the copier 50 has to control the image capturing module 52 to re-capture the original image and to transform the original image into the gray-leveled image, no matter how big the quantity of the copy is. Since time for the copier 50 to capture and process the original image is much longer than that to print the printable image, the copier 50 lacks for efficiency.